Marvel's "Avengers: Age of Ultron" - Teaser Trailer (OFFICIAL)

AWWW YEEEEAH! WHO'S LOOKING FORWARD TO AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON!!!

Yes Marvel fans of all ages, the hit spectacular sequel that everyone has bound to have been waiting for has at last blessed our eyes with a special teaser trailer that's left us all jaw-dropped and left us with lots of excitement and questions.

YouTube graced us yesterday with the surprise trailer of maybe the most anticipated film for 2015, Avengers: Age Of Ultron which is the hit sequel to Marvel's The Avengers.

The trailer has shown quite a lot including fight scenes, drama, conflict and the arrival of our new mechanical enemy, Ultron. Who was created by Tony but just what short-circuit screw up has led this robot to go all omnipotent?
After I watched this, thanks to my mate, Martin who posted it on my Facebook wall in the morning, I had so many questions already and am so eager to have them answered.

We all must be asking why are some characters fighting each other again especially Hulk and Iron Man (since they are buddies by the end of the first film?) And Thor is choking Tony (as if the fight in the first film wasn't brutal enough?!)
Ultron must be "pulling their strings" like his lecture about them being puppets and that he is free and there are no strings on him (I recognised those lyrics from Disney's Pinocchio) which could indicate he is the puppeteer or something and could be responsible for maniupulating the team.
We also get to witness the grand debut appearance of the twins "Quicksilver" and "Scarlet Witch" who were first seen in the secret ending to Captain America: The Winter Soldier. These two new powerful mutants won't be easy to convince plus I read on Wikipedia, that J.A.R.V.I.S (Tony Stark's A.I partner) will also be given a form known as "Vision"! Awe I wonder what that powerful being will look like.
Did my eyes decieve me but is that Andy Serkis in the trailer?! And I am glad we have more members for this film including Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes a.k.a WarMachine/ Iron Patriot least Tony will have a pal in this film.

The trailer shows us an almost identical teaser when Avengers was released, showing us a fair amount of action and spoilers but not enough to ruin the whole plot entirely. We now see that the characters will all set off on little journeys before getting together for the party and take down this tin can baddy (who to me shares a faint resemblance to Iron Man himself...)

Honestly, this post is just a big hype reaction to seeing something special on a Thursday morning.
This little stunt will have me and many of my friends all talking, wondering and anxiously waiting for this blockbuster to hurry up and release the film already come May 2015.
This post isn't really anything special, however I will just for the little purposes, write up a little review on Avengers sometime next year just before the sequel's release so that we can all remember and watch the glory of our super buddies coming together when the world needed them most, see the sad death of a dear character (though he now stars in a great TV series featuring S.H.I.E.L.D) and watch Hulk smash.

Now, I'm off to MCM Comic-Con, this will certainly be the topic to buzz about and has most likely spread like wildfire already and everyone will be talking about it. Laters.

Alien: Isolation (Game Review)

Stranded on a desolated Space station where no one can be trusted, you must Run, Hide and Survive. Stealth and silence is the key to survival as you avoid encountering the most terrifying creature in Sci-Fi history... the Alien Xenomorph. Beware the Alien isn't the only threat on this station. Take a look at why Alien: Isolation is a one of a kind game and how The Creative Assembly (those guys I met at the midnight launch) have really outdone themselves.

I've finally gotten round to playing my most challenging and tough not to mention thrilling First-Person Survival Horror Stealth game ever, I don't know if I can compare it to Slender even. Compared to my experience when I first played Dead Space and wrote the review on Alt:Mag, this is nothing compared to it. In Dead Space, I was armed and had the potential to kill those necromorphs that came for me while in this game I can only hide and even if I have a firearm, it's useless against the Xenomorph (I don't see how seeing as it's not indestructible, but that's just how the games been programmed).

Alien: Isolation is the game where we play as Amanda Ripley who of course is investigating the disappearance of her Mom Ellen Ripley (the badass chick from the Alien films). Amanda is assigned and transferred to the Sevastopol Space Station to look for the flight recorder of the Nostromo (the space ship from the first film) but to Amanda's shock and horror, an Alien is onboard the ship and has made a mess of the majority of the crew. Now Amanda must survive this horrific game of Cat and Mouse against an unstoppable being and trust no one if she is to survive.
Technically this game is part of the Alien film series, it takes place in the year 2135 (which is 15 years after the events in Alien and it's 42 years prior to Aliens).

As I began the game, the first thing I get is a retro version of the 20th Century Fox opening intro and the graphics look like VHS quality which was a nice touch like it's trying to follow up to the time when Alien was first released back in 1979.

So anyway, skip the long story short, after Amanda reaches the Sevastopol space station and lands onboard (after a freak accident incident with her teammates) that's when tensions began to rise already. Now I knew that from then on, I was onboard the last place I would ever want to be if this was real or actually in her shoes.

My first encounter with the terrifying Alien was a good one. I witness in a cutscene that my fresh and crazy acquaintance is impaled by the Alien's tail and dragged into the ventilation shaft, classic. Perfect technique besides all the other powerful and frightening methods the Alien kill's with. Imagining being in that situation is what haunts me to this day thanks to it's dark reputation and unstoppable kill streak. All it does is Kill and Replicate. Ugh I can't imagine having one of those spider-like Facehuggers come for me and then soon give birth from my chest another Alien itself and die or even worse be the victim to it's killer tongue or sneaky and silent pounce.

The controls for Amanda seem limited but they are what make the gameplay intense. The A button is the confirm button, the B button allows us to select from the wheel of tools that she can use after discovering/ building them. The left Analog stick makes her move forward and when pressed down will help her sprint but it could attract enemies. The right Analog stick when pressed down allows her to crouch (this is a vital method for playing the game as it emits less sound) and when crouched down, by holding down the LB button we enter a Peek mode which can be tilted with the right-trigger (this realistic action really does add tension to the atmosphere like we are actually hiding for real and don't have to expose ourselves so easily) and in a cool way, with the Kinect we can actually use our head movement to do the controls along with activating the noise option which means any Screaming or loud breathing you do for real actually emits in the game too, this choice could lead to your downfall. Oh and the Left-Trigger aims tools we are holding like a Flare or weapon and of course the Right-Trigger fires or throws our weapon/ tool.
We also have a flashlight which can be used with the Y button but can the power drains slightly quickly without batteries and can be a big "Hello, I'm over here!". Our most precious tool is the Motion Sensor which helps us keep track of the Alien's movements but is quite loud when beeping.

Hiding is one of the best strategies because we can hide in Lockers, Air vents or under tables. But we have to becareful, if enemies come near it we may need to react with a button to hold our breath otherwise we're f***ed. When my butt was compromised by the Alien, I actually gave a loud scream as I was so into the game that I actually felt I was there. It even found me in the air vents once, the light was off and when I fired my Revolver, it made a tiny light which showed faintly the Alien heading right for me (like a classic last stand  in a horror film). Only when I get in a locker I can't really kid around like this is one of those classic bully moments on a TV show where they get stuffed into a locker though this is probably what it looks like.

Our display on screen can become crowded and fairly limited like we can't focus on some things at the same time, for example, when we use the Motion Tracker it actually take up a chunk of our left sight of the screen and we have to juggle between looking at what's in front of us and what the tracker is picking up (it's not like a tiny display on the bottom left of the map like in Call Of Duty and it only works if the Alien is moving).

 

The environments are quite realistic, when I saw videos on YouTube of Creative Assembly playing and talking about the game before the release. They mentioned how they tried to follow the same layout as Alien looked with it's retro computers despite being in the future (cause computers used to be green screens with code) and the padded white walls on some of the areas made it look all sci-fi like. Even the blood stains on the floor and walls add the spine-chilling touch to making us feel we are being stalked and that there truly is something dangerous onboard and is picking off people. They really studied Ridley Scott's work and make this follow up the film look identical, good job guys.

Even when I was on I think Mission 3 and just picked up the Hacker tool, I was stuck for a while and had to figure out how to either sneak past or kill 4/5 humans who were all armed with Revolvers. But as I was thinking up solutions, I actually had to overcome my own war with myself. You see, I'm a perfectionist and seeing the challenging Achievements for the game made me swallow in fear. Some Achievements involved "not killing an humans or androids at all" or "completing the game on the hardest difficulty" and "not dying at all throughout the game". Now I don't know about you, but isn't this quite the challenge? Over this week, I've now calmed down and realised that this game will require frequent playthroughs and on different levels of difficulty (I'm already playing it on Medium difficulty) and once the 20 missions are completed, then sometime I could play again on Easy difficulty and may have a better chance of acquiring several of those achievements but the Hard difficulty completion... that will take patience and a long time to wait and see if anyone has tips or walkthroughs online ha ha.

It seems clear that The Creative Assembly have based this game on Ridley Scott's Alien making it more terrifying that we are helpless and and feel it's impossible compared to the more action based atmosphere in James Cameron's Aliens, seeing as firearms and other tools are useless against this monster.
This game is super unique because The Creative Assembly team have done what's hardly been done in video games these days, they've made the Alien CPU so advanced and programmed with Artificial Intelligence making it a quick learning hunter that will find you through Sight, Sound and Smell. And over the course of the game, it'll learn from previous encounters and won't be so easy to trick, manipulate and avoid so easily.
This game really tests your wits and improvisation because it's not a set path like if you die, you can't just expect the Alien, other Survivors or Androids to follow the exact methods as they did before! No! You must change tactics as well because nothing works the same way twice.
The Alien itself showed interesting actions which proved this A.I. theory, it actually checked lockers that have been opened before and reacted with specific sounds or screams to indicate it's feelings at the moment. The fact that it gets tougher and changes it's hunting strategy as the levels continue is a good illusion while in reality, more complex coding has been edited to the creature to help make it look smarter and add a real-life feeling to it.
It even feels as if we are unknowingly playing against another player or if we're playing against the developers themselves somehow ha ha.

Knowing that this game has outdone the last Alien game that tried to be as cool as Aliens which was the sadly and poorly reviewed game Aliens: Colonial Marines. The game took place after Alien 3 and was sadly filled with bugs, poor A.I. and not well balanced gameplay though it was praised for it's detail on weaponry, the ability to customise characters and the level designs and had a thrilling soundtrack. Plus the mulitplayer co-operative mode was poor and the graphics were low-quality in the single player and multiplayer. When I saw a YouTube video back in 2013 to see if this was worth getting, of course the layout and trailer had me hooked for it's swarm/ hoard like playthrough and it was a heavy shooter but seeing that it took almost one magazine/ round of bullets to kill one made me think something was wrong and put me off it.
I will admit that the front cover for the game did look pretty cool though.

So overall this game is truly worth a playthrough if you think your smart enough, tough enough and can handle it. I thank Creative Assembly for doing so well on this smash-hit horror game (well done everyone!) but don't thank you for given me a lot of goosebumps. Why not go and buy it for yourself, it's available on Xbox One, Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and 4 and on Microsoft Windows too. See just how thrilling and scary this is for real. I'd go for the Ripley Edition cause you get 2 extra missions or DLC that extend your fun. Oh and I recommend not playing this game in the dark cause it sounds tough and fun... It was't for me ha ha.
Next post will be all about MCM Comic-Con and how wonderful, thrilling and overwhelming it is every year. Oh and on a special note, AsperJosh has reached over 5000+ total views! Whoop Whoop.

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Game Review)

Mordor calls you to the field of battle to stop the arrival of the Dark Lord Sauron... again. Take up your blade, bow and dagger and take down Sauron's forces before his army marches out to take over Middle-Earth. This game must be on your shelf as it's one of the best gaming high-lights for any Xbox, PlayStation and PC consoles and especially for me. Here's Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor.

The story takes place between J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings stories and tells the tale of how Talion (voiced and motion captured by Troy Baker), a ranger of Gondor who guards the Black Gate Of Mordor. After a surprise attack and watching his wife and son die, Talion meets the same end by Sauron's forces. For reasons unknown, Talion is revived but with new and powerful Wraith abilities thanks to a Elf Wraith who somehow has a connection to Talion and has a history with the Dark Lord himself, now both of them must exact vengeance on Sauron and his armies as well as discover their lost secrets. Walk through Mordor with your ominous glowing blue eyes, filled with vengeance.

I think this Action Role-Playing game is as unique as Tomb Raider because the developers Monolith Productions (the team behind the F.E.A.R games), Peter Jackson himself and Behaviour Interactive have gone into more detail for this franchise and have dug deep into this era in the timeline and given us another idea as to what could have happened (though I have read online that the story is separate from The Lord Of The Rings canon, though the story align, characters and settings are within canon).
We are witnessing Mordor before it became a barren wasteland and we are just one man with the strength of an army (Talion even shares a fair resemblance to the future king of Gondor, Aragorn).

Compared to the LOTR films and books, I actually find this story intriguing and it fits in well, it's like replaying Star Wars: The Force Unleashed again, I mean I'm playing a story that could very well fit in with a universe I know so well though we never saw it, heard of it or even read it from out past experiences with Tolkien's work before. I originally got into LOTR several years ago after failing to watch The Fellowship Of The Ring when I was around 8 or 9. I only watched vague parts from the beginning up until Gandalf's defeat with the Balrog, I gave up then. But soon when the trilogy came back onto Sky Movies several years ago, I've really dulged into this franchise and always watch them when they're on TV, though they are not as good as the Extended versions (which by the way are worth watching even more despit the length time). I even read The Hobbit book right before the new Trilogy (well now it's a Quadrology/ Tetralogy) was released in cinemas.

The open-world is huge for only one region of Middle-Earth. The amount of detail that's been laid out for the stone, grass and mountain terrain is accurate along with the dark and apocalyptic atmosphere that Mordor is famous for. I noticed that when I came up close to the eroded castles, the walls of towers and giant boulders that they have seen better days and look damaged, scarred and imperfect plus they look like battlefield pieces from Warhammer 40k.

The gameplay is dynamite, the mechanics show similar controls and actions to various games I've played before and always adore playing such as Assassin's Creed for it's free-running, climbing style and the eagle-vision similarity that shows when you enter and see through the Wraith world along with using the bow, Batman: Arkham games when it comes to controls for combat (they're almost identical, only Batman never used a sword, he prefers to get his hands dirty) and I'd say a little bit of Prototype due to the similarity in story and the level of gore and how the main character needs to kill and learn secrets in order to find answers for himself.
The free-running is good seeing as it's not too limited to what even some of the actors did in The Lord Of The Rings films well except for Legolas (who's an agile and skilled Elf). Seeing that Talion has similar agility to an Elf made sense seeing as his wraith mate was also an Elf once, plus this special mechanic helped me pull off a lot of sneak attacks, flexible combat and perform stealthy bow assassinations (no offence to the world of Men, but those men couldn't amount to the skills of an Elf if they tried to in this game).
The combat is super easy to master and get to grips with if your used to played RHYSE or the Batman games, so it's X/ Square to attack, Y/ Triangle to block and in this game, B/ Circle to use Wraith Stun powers. Even the bow uses the same LT and RT controls as throwing a Batarang.
The fact that Talion can make other creatures and enemies his own minions is what makes the game fun and enjoyable as it's handiness has helped me throughout the game.

The Nemesis System is the unique feature the game offers. It's a repetitive hierarchy that depending on your actions, the time you die and how you choose to interact or leave alone enemies will affect the army itself. For example, like how Uruk's betray and confront others in order to advance in the Captain and soon to be Warchief stature. Depending on your actions and if you do or don't succeed in killing out the ranks, these particular enemies will remember you and will have a score to settle as well as receive a promotion. I even threw an Uruk into a campfire once and it ran away in fear and then the next time we encountered each other, he remembered me and looked disfigured and scarred. Everytime one dies, another takes it's place over time, it looks like a Chessboard.

With each enemy that you gain intel on, you get to view their Weaknesses (which benefit you on thinking how you can gain the upper hand) and their Strengths (which you should try to avoid doing as it can lead to your defeat).  So this special feature helps make this game personal to you because Talion's actions will affect the outcome. The enemies keep coming and have special titles but sort of common and repetitive names. You discover and uncover Intel on enemies through Interrogation when your up-close with enemies and your Wraith power allows you to find out more on one person each time before they meet the end at the hand of your blade.
Right before the fight takes place with a captain/ warchief when they notice my arrival or clash with my sword they give me some stick and talk how they are going to kill me or antagonise me, but they don't stand a chance really against me.

The main screen consists of Talion in the open-world of Mordor. On the bottom right is a circle with a red outline on the left-side representing Talion's health (it can be recovered with plants throughout the land) and on the right-side we have a white outline which is Talion's focus (wraith) energy along with blue dots which are Talion's elf-shots a.k.a his arrows that he replenishes by finding arrows around the environment or by draining enemies for wraith energy and elf-shots.

Seeing that Troy Baker (the voice actor I know who provides the voices for Loki in Lego Marvel Super Heroes and the Marvel Avengers Assemble TV series as Loki too, Van Kleiss in Generator Rex and Snow Villiers from Final Fantasy XIII), was in the game and provided the same requirements that Camilla Luddington did for her role in Tomb Raider, it brought a smile to my face and activated a fond memory I adore because I met him nearly a year ago at MCM Comic-Con in London. Troy and Roger Craig Smith (the voice actor who does Batman in Batman: Arkham Origins, Ezio Auditore da Firenze in the Assassin's Creed (Series) and Sonic The Hedgehog (2010-Present) were there together doing autographs while promoting the new Batman: Arkham Origins game that they both voiced in (Troy as Joker and Roger as Batman). I was very honoured to have met them both, they were very nice and pleasant chaps and were two of those real actors that when you meet, are nice for real and polite. I got Troy to sign my Final Fantasy XIII game cover and Lewis's Persona 4: The Animation poster for free (Lewis couldn't make it unfortunately so I took his poster from his house and got it signed for him, aren't I a good mate?!) and Roger signed my Batman: Arkham Origins poster that was there for free. That was an unforgettable moment in my life that I treasure to this day. 
Anyway, back to the game.


Upgrading Talion is vital because with every Captain and Warchief you kill, you acquire a Rune which is a unique skill which you can equip to Talion's Blade, Bow or Dagger. Each Rune have special percentage variations on gaining the upper-hand or replenishing focus/ health or even gain more XP (luckily it's not a ridiculous upgrade such as attaching a Grenade Launcher to the Bow). Combo's are what help you acquire more XP and with the XP you can unlock hidden abilities that will shape Talion into powerhouse he is. Plus with every Captain and Warchief you slaughter, you acquire Power which is used to unlock the special abilities along with some abilities that are acquired through XP. Lastly you can acquire money through finding collectibles such as Artifacts etc throughout the game which keeps the game going as well as all the side-quests and just messing around really.

Just before purchasing the game, I got talked into purchasing the Season Pass for the game too which according to my friends at Horsham GAME, you can play as Talion's Wraith mate and battle Sauron himself and his army during the Second Age, you can tackle some hunting challenges and fight ferocious monsters plus theirs some more missions to extend hours of gameplay. I'd say it was worth it and now I can activate it seeing as I'm done with the story mode (it only had 20 main missions).

As for wrapping up this long review, I'm not gonna say anything about it at all. Yep! You'll have to witness it for yourself. I wonder how you'll react to it as it seemed unexpected but also clear at the same time. What do you guys think of the ending to this cool game?
Now, I can get round to playing Alien: Isolation at last and start my review on that. I am tempted to write up a review soon on my year long progression since joining the gym again (maybe even share a picture of my progress too *wink*) plus I have MCM Comic-Con coming up near the end of October. That's gonna be huge! Jessica Nigri (a hot famous cosplayer) and Danielle Radcliffe are turning up and I hope to get an autograph and meet these two legendary people too. Plus I can get round to writing up a huge post talking about Cosplaying, what Comic-Con is like and has been from my past visits and talk about this personal side of my life with you all. :)

Alien: Isolation Midnight Launch At Horsham GAME, 7th October 2014

 

My first Midnight Launch to Horsham GAME was really worth it as I got to meet the developers behind the game - The Creative Assembly Team as well as meet some nice guys who were also keen to buy the game too. Surprisingly only around 20ish people turned up.

After heading to the Gym and finishing at 10.00pm, I thought it was best to head straight to town and get in the queue in case it would be packed (I mean the creators were turning up) but by the time I got there for 10.20pm, only 2 guys were there. We chatted for a while and over time a little more people turned up and we all had a good laugh talking about interests, talking about Family Guy, South Park and other games we've all played. I read up on Twitter and Facebook that the doors were opening at 11.45pm which soon turned out to be a real midnight opening.

Whats... that... claw?!

Soon The Creative Assembly team were all heading towards us and were all let inside as a few GAME staff members arrived and let them in first to get prepared. We were all making witty jokes about all the members taking selfies and taking pictures of the night, we were all freezing out butts off and couldn't sit down on the near-by benches due to the rain that had occurred all day. We even saw a lady turn up with a suitcase, we all guessed it was the games (I suspected it was the Alien Xenomorph costume as I read on the Facebook event that an actual Alien Costume was going to be here).

Honey, I'm Home!

And would you believe it, at Midnight, the lights went out and this f**ker came to the door and made everyone jump (I wonder if they too saw it coming?)

I was first.
Oli is the guy behind the dude wearing the
beanie,and Thomas is the guy with his arm out

As we all queued up and took photos of the freaky specimen who banged against the glass doors, the doors open and the lights came back on and all was prepared, I even got in first which was brlliant.

I paid for the Game which luckily I got a special, you see the first 20 people to turn up would receive a Poster, the Game, a Patch to sew on and a short-comic of the game itself, and because only around 20 people turned up we were all given the same stuff... yay for me!

I then headed over to the table where everyone was gathered and they offered to sign either the game disk, the game cover or the double-sided poster. I went with the poster as the game cover is too short and the disk would make it non-playable. Everyone signed it and was very eager todo do this for us.

I then stuck around for a little and grabbed some of the guys (Thomas and another guy Oli's) Facebooks and we all got photos with the Alien Xenomorph cosplayer, I said out loud "By the way, no tongue on the first date!" Ha the reaction from everyone was priceless and perfect. As the others took off, I stuck around a little more so I could talk to the creators.

I also met Gary Napper, the Lead Designer, behind the game and got chatting to him about how I intended to come with my CV but decided not to as it would break the atmosphere and seem desperate. I told him all the work I did at Collyers with my BTEC in IT and got a Double B for making a 5-page website with Javascript, I had made a 1 minute Flash animation using stop-motion and had used the software GameMaker to make a small Pokemon side-scrolling game. He was impressed and interested that I had used GameMaker before as that's the software they use too and on their website do an event where people create a small game using the software within 48 hours and submit their work to the company. I felt proud that he said I "was on the right track" and I clarified that I am not ready at the moment to try and apply for an internship but I was most honoured to have met them all and got to chat honestly and receive very helpful advice.
When I told Gary all about my game and how it's still unfinished (but passed the Collyers grade), he helped me with some advice methods on how to fix it and asked if I could send it to him once it's finished sometime. You have no idea how wonderful those words felt to me and I was very pleased and honoured. I got his Twitter right away and said "Thank you" to everyone and shook hands with Gary and said "Thank you for the exciting game, the tips and advice and everything!" I now aim to get round to fixing it again and make him proud as I felt.
Just before leaving, one of the guys shouted "Try not to get eaten on the way home!" I turned round and laughed while asking as I left "You're not gonna set the Alien on me, right?!"

Very surprised that I got home for 12.45am, I was expecting to be home near 2.00am or something due to thinking it would be crowded like any Halo, Call Of Duty or Fifa midnight launch as we can all guess how packed and crowded those nights sound. Still, this pleasant event was worth it and I got more than I expected out of it. It has also woken me up and reminded me of my love for ICT especially in websites and animation and generally gaming. Even I don't know which ones to go for in a career I hope to have someday. But looking back on some memories on some websites such as CodeAcademy.com, Code.org and Generalassemb.ly are the real obstacles for me to conquer and work with someday so that I'll be the  programming nerd that I've always wanted to be (despite Collyers never giving me that chance to learn Programming because I lacked the GCSE Maths at the time and they didn't give me a chance).

Stand by for a Shadow Of Mordor and now Alien: Isolation review and just see how these two games are really keeping me busy and interested thanks to their special features and mechanics for these unique games.

Lee Evans Monster Tour - Live At The O2, 27th September 2014 (My First Live Comedy Experience)

I finally got to see a real comedy legend last weekend and he was just as hilarious compared to when I watch his past tours on TV/ DVD. See here why Lee Evans is a real funny man.

Jack, Me, Em and Becca

During the time when I was alone for a week, I did have one major event I have been looking forward to and keeping my eye on the calendar and the day finally came when Me, Becca and a friend each were heading to The O2 to see a comedy legend that we've all adored for several years. I originally booked the tickets I'd say just under a year ago and the awkward thing was that... the tickets still hadn't arrived yet!

There he is next to my Lego Bad Cop
and Lego Spider-Man
The T-shirt has all the tour dates on the back

So besides panicking and screaming and rolling on the floor, I phoned Ticketmaster and questioned over the phone on WTF was going on? The kind lady explained that it was all okay and that if I went to the Box Office area outside the arena and told them my Ticket Reference number then all would be fixed. As fortunate as that sounded, it certainly didn't make things feel perfect or seem fine as it looked a bit like a Gamble.

But anyway, after picking Becca up from work at 4, meeting Em at our house and then meeting Jack at the station, before I knew it we were on our way for London. Once there at Victoria, Jack and I grabbed a Burger King (Like A Boss) and the girls got McDonald's (Like A Boss) do you see where this reference is from? *wink*. And we made our way in due time to the arena on the Underground (haa I like the p**s-take song but the system is easy to navigate and follow for me) and got everything sorted and received the tickets according to plan. We all noticed that there was merchandise available too (which was a surprise as I've only really seen merchandise for concerts/ festivals really!) But I thought "Hell, why not?!" So just before the show started, I bought myself a Lee Evans Tour T-Shirt and a little funny Lee Keychain together for £25.

 

We all headed to the very top to take our seats and as we all looked down we thought "F**k me, that's high!"  And then the lights went down... And Mr Monkey boy came on in style.

Lee started the show with a funny video that showed him singing a-long in a musical number walking a long long way from his dress room with many guys following and meeting him along the way and singing along too (it looked a bit like the Olly Murs - Army Of Two video). I didn't take any pictures then as I was doing my best to abide the rules and just watch, boy was it hard to follow.

Lee is just as brilliant live as he is on the TV screen at least I tried my best to believe. Well saying that, I don't know how to quite explain it all. I think it's the angle view on seeing him all the way down there (clearly knowing it was him thanks to the 3 screens) but I wonder if it was the high altitude, the huge crowd and the tiny fear in the back of my head on how awkward and stressful it all was in the beginning of not knowing if we were all going to be let in or not due to a f**k up with the arrival of the tickets?

Look at him touching his ass

Of course, I grinned a lot (my cheeks ached at the end, that's a clear sign of enjoyment, right?) But I didn't really find myself laughing out loud (LOL for short which isn't a word I don't really like using let alone saying so I just text Ha Ha or laugh for real). I wonder if it's all of the above or the fact this all could have been ruined and our chances were slim. But hey, we prevailed and surely that relief should have been enough? Two of my friends from work saw him separately on the Brighton dates and both agreed and told me that "He's still got it and is just as talented as always!" Well they were right! I always enjoy watching him and looking for certain topics on YouTube to see if I can find uploads.

His jokes were bl**dy brilliant and he's as talented as always. I love a lot of his jokes from his BIG - Live At The O2 tour seeing as that was my first DVD view of his work and then watched the others (I'm not really a huge fan of when he started to be honest but he stuck to it and has turned into a comedy icon). He even threw in a few naughty jokes (not naughty and offensive as Frankie Boyle whom I do like most of the time, though he does cross the line occasionally) like he mentioned Peter Andre, Cheryl Cole, and I think a few S**t as in Poop references too, the crowd's reaction was enough and they all still laughed and clapped just as easy as their sense of humour as well as Lee confirming the reaction and admitting that the joke was a tough one to use and understood it was good but just as dangerous ha ha. Even I clapped a lot and did burst out laughing a couple times and did chuckle and giggle a lot just not laugh like watching Family Guy or a good comedy sometimes.

 

After our 20-30 minute break, he came back on but before that he did another funny entrance video involving him being divided up into 3 Slot Machine symbols (it was like a magic trick gone wrong and took I think it was 7 attempts to get right in the end ha ha).

 
He kept it all going and I know he's still got it and mentioned similar topics from his past shows and he can still over exaggerate everything so brilliantly that it's all undeniably true and may even happen to us all in our lifetimes or we've seen it all so much on American and British TV series and films. I love his references and jokes as I visualise them accurately (not meaning to brag) but I do see where he's coming from when he's considered the idiot or can imagine so well so many outcomes or notice things in much more funnier detail from our everyday lives (like what Stephen K Amos says "Find the funny side!"). That's why he's so talented and can keep it going for so long and is so recognisable thanks to many factors such as his perfect terms with swearing, his large ears, his unstoppable problem with sweating more than any other comedian under the boiling spotlight (I feel sad for him but admire how he can cope with it and sometimes come on with a towel ready), let's not forget his iconic and one of a kind laugh that's contagious and the constant references to his "Wife" (and like a true gentleman always mentions at the end of the show of how he's talked about her in such ways and remind us all as well as clear up his own mess on how much of an inspiration and how much he loves her and means to her).

We were all reminded to turn our phones off before the show started (but did that stop me or anyone else... Nope!) As I watched the show, I could see with my hawkeye's that people were taking pictures and using the flash (I counted 16 times that photos were taken) so I thought to myself "Why not grab a few just for AsperJosh?!" So I did cautiously and without using the flash. They came out just about visible and I think I took 17 attempts, so much for taking a few.

There's the Guitar

As the show came to an end around 10.30pm after starting at just after 8.00pm, he gave his little speech about his wife and then on came a neon pink coloured piano and I was pleased to see that he was going to sing (he's actually quite good and writes such beautiful and philosophical songs too). He sung his heart out to a song about his wife that he made just for her and his lyrics were so touching as he gently spun round on the big pedestal that him and the piano were positioned on, he even played a guitar solo too!

What looked like the end of the show turned out to be the pre-epilogue. He admitted that someone in France begged him to do this on his Monsters Tour like he did in the past, and would you believe it? He acted out to the all time favourite and memorable Queen song - Bohemian Rhapsody... all of it and danced on stage and kept us all entertained even longer than expected. Well done, Lee!

As we all looked at the time and realised it was getting near 10.45pm, we had to bolt so that the girls could grab merchandise back downstairs just as Lee was finishing the song. While they were purchasing similar products like mine, a little fight broke out between two blonde's who me and Jack guessed either had it in for each other or an argument began over something stupid. One Blondie was attacking, pushing and shouting at the other while the other just kept avoiding her taunts and constant pushes. Soon the boyfriends got involved and the pushy girl's boyfriend got violent too and so did the other girl's bf as he wasn't letting himself and her have any of it, it took Security like 10 minutes to come down and stop it all. Everyone was taking pictures and recording it all while looked disappointed and disgusted as two people just ruining the moment at such a pleasant event. But luckily the pushy ones were crowded by security and escorted outside, right on!
So we all made our way barely to London Victoria but missed the 11.35pm last train to Horsham. I was still hungry and wanted to order another Burger King (yeah I'm a greedy pig) but the guys were having a problem with making my previous order again (plain burger) according to the guy "It would take longer to make the burger plain"... What? So I ditched the idea and we all ran to the Train that was just leaving for 11.50pm to Three Bridges. Where upon arriving there, Becca payed for a £33 taxi to take us all back to Horsham.

Luckily I had asked our elderly neighbours Mary and Peter (who treat Me and Becca like their own grandchildren) to feed the boys in the evening and late evenings as we were out. Super grateful they did without question.
So overall it was brilliant and a treat, I just think the awkward beginning just took away a bit of the fun as I'm like that sometimes cause if thinks look risky or don't go according to plan sometimes then it takes away the fun at the time but soon is regained later or over time and it's remembered as a pleasant memory or later on in the day.

Here's the ticket that I got from the Box-Office

Oh before I go, I will admit that this Sunday, Mum actually looked on the side where all the mail was and actually found the... unopened envelope containing the tickets I had been waiting for...Wa-Wa-Waaah! Well it just goes to show to pay closer attention to when your waiting for special deliveries and to not give up hope when it all seems hopeless. In the end, we got there didn't we? We had a good laugh and went away with tummy aches thanks to a hilarious show. I'm glad we did it and when the DVD comes out, it'll be even better and I wonder if we'll be seen in the audience?!

A Week Without Parents (Tues 23rd Sept - Tues 30th Sept)

Last week, me and Becca had the house to ourselves because Mum and Dad decided to take a 1 weeks holiday together in Corfu, Greece to see an old friend Christos who was the original owner of the 2 hotels we've been visiting in Greece since 2003. He's now had his own hotel in Corfu away from Thessaloniki where we've been going for the last 10 years. So Mum and Dad got round to spending quality time together away from us and seeing an old friend.

I apologise for the lack of posts and what seems like effort really but I've been slacking a little and relaxing as well, as last week I was coping with the change. Plus this weekend, the laptop has been having a clean-up thanks to AVAST Anti-Virus Software's special package GrimeFighter which took f***ing forever (like 2-4 hours) but cleared up around 12GB of data and made it all quicker again and all for 1 year's subscription of £20.
I also admit proudly that I've been enjoying the new Midde Earth: Shadow Of Mordor game on Xbox One this weekend, definitely going to write a review soon. I also bought Super Smash Bros. For 3DS too. I even wore my epic "All seeing eye of Lord Sauron" t-shirt (that I bought from Qwertee.com) to GAME to see if they could guess what I was purchasing today.

That week of independence (I say that as in solitary) because Becca was working most of the week and I was alone with the kitty cats. I'm not afraid to admit that I am bl**dy useless at cooking but luckily I had help from Becca's BFF, Emily and was also joined by her BF Ryan. They came over for most of the whole week and provided social comfort for me when Becca was working and played with the kittens plus Em cooked for us 3 days and I even gave a go at cooking some Chicken Poppets and Chips... It just about turned out acceptable while Em was babysitting somewhere else. Afterwards, I met Ryan at the Gym.

That's a big topic that's on my mind - Cooking. Someone like me with my time management and paying attention to detail/ routines should be a confident pro at this particular skill right? Well actually, I'm a Wuss. I haven't been cooking since Year 9 at The Forest School and then after that year I took Graphic Products and found that more intriguing. I guess I've slacked off on learning with Mum or even Becca because I settle down after work and escape using the laptop or Xbox and even going to the Gym twice a week. I really should get back into learning as I've been saying this for the past 5/6 years and always intended to in the Summer when Mum would be at home in the day more often. I guess it's just slipped away like my confidence and temptation. I'm not saying I'm gonna rely on Rebecca's talented chef skills or Mum's homemade specials forever. Inevitably I will need to pick out a book and begin again, I just need to discipline my mind and get round to getting good at another life skill besides Cleaning, Driving and Hoovering (those don't just get you around life, cooking's needed to help keep you alive and healthy)! I'm sure it'll begin soon as this year's been full of surprises.

But while my parents were away, I did have some tasks to follow through with such as watering the plants outside, feed the kittens and clean out their... leavings and remembering to take the bins out on specific days. I tell you that I do feel proud being independent in my own way and this time I coped with the solitary and separation from my parents compared to my first 5-day School Trip to Swanage when I was at Chesworth Primary School (I cried a little on the coach due to never really being separated from my family before, well besides my operations and the day I was diagnosed but that's another personal story). This time, I feel I was thinking in my head as if I had moved away (technically not as I'm still in my house) but more as if I had 2 little companions and 2 of Becca's friends too who made me feel happy and not upset at all.

Of course, I texted Mum and Dad a couple times such as how to work the damn cooker and when they checked up on me half-way through the week. I feel more grown up that I coped with this well and it's clear that someday when I "leave the nest" (well that depends due to housing prices, moving in with someone else such as a mate or future girlfriend) which won't be for a long time due to the way things are going in England.

Oh yeah, let's not forget that me, Em and Becca and an old friend Jack went to the O2 to see the comedy genius, Lee Evans. He was just as brilliant as always and I'm currently writing up the story now.

But despite it all, I gave a go at being a single-man in a house almost alone and did my best. Soon I'll be a well independant dude and will be lucky to share a life with my future lady.

Tweet Tweet! I Now Have Twitter!

Well, I finally did it and made a Twitter account at last... And it's been around 4-5 years I think since everyone I know made their accounts.
That's right people, Josh has finally given into another Internet social media application but more likely for the beneficial growth and promotion for AsperJosh, only one problem... I can't make an "AsperJosh" account.

I bet your wondering "Why now?" Well that's because I typed in AsperJosh on Google and found at around the top few links, I saw in shock and awe that someone else has beat me to it in setting up a "AsperJosh" twitter account... F**k!
Can't really blame him really (well I kinda want to as it's a real unique title) and all he's done since creating the account in July 2012, is do around 20 tweets since. If he's not gonna use the account name so seriously then I don't know what to do. Maybe I could message him with my Twitter account and ask politely if I could take the name instead if he made another or renamed it. But then aren't I being the one who is selfish and just getting my way? Yes! But I have my own personal reasons really.

Over the years of watching some friends such as Lewis use Twitter on his Mac when I was round his house, it all looked complicated, illogical and far different to how Facebook is used. And it still does feel that way despite giving it all a try over the past 3 days. I mean the use of the options "Retweet" which I'm guessing means Share what others have "Tweeted" already is simple but it looks awkward when it shows up on my wall and I'm only noticed at the top right through my Twitter account name.
I could very well create an AsperJosh account but just change the account name to like @AsperJosh_UK or something and then list the details and link it to my main Twitter and Facebook, *sigh* so much effort that's complicated.

I had to set mine up as Josh_G_Grahame as Josh_Grahame, Josh.Grahame and all the other possibilities are all taken, not surprised really as I jumped on the bandwagon much much later. Feel free to add me guys so you can keep up with promotions. I'm gonna set up a Twitter button at the top of the blog asap. I may even look into setting up a Facebook Like page sometime too and make a button at the top of the blog too.
Luckily I have included my link to AsperJosh so people can see my website for real even if it's not an official Twitter account like Lewis's account for Alt:Mag. Seeing his page made me feel a little intimidated by how much he's done in just 5 years ha ha. I don't even know if I should upload many past pictures from Facebook or just start from here onwards like on Facebook (seeing as this year was a real blast and so much has happened). I'll tell you what, the term "Following" is like adding people on Facebook only it's not the case of both accepting friend requests. No, you have to follow them and then wait patiently for them to follow you, so it's weird that the connection isn't so simple as Facebook. But seeing as people follow Celebrities and other mainstream names/ bands etc, you can't expect them all to follow us too so easily? I keep seeing people follow around I'd say *,*** people/ things while they are follow maybe even a 10th less like *** other people. I now have to far 22 followers and I only know 12 of them for real ha ha.

I'm pretty sure over time things will escalate and I'll feel as social/ popular as I feel (not bragging or anything) on my own Facebook account but then again not everyone has Twitter or hardly goes on plus not everyone has to follow you back even though you choose to follow them in the first place. Least I have some descent followers already but in time I'm pretty sure that number will increase. I'm beginning to get used to "Tweeting" as if it's a status update or writing down just about anything (well appropriate) because that's the idea of Twitter anyway, right?! Shame though that your limited to only 140 characters per Tweet, better make every work count.
But like I said at the top, my main priority is to share and promote my AsperJosh blog posts and past posts up on Twitter like I do on Facebook. I mean it's handy having two types of social media's to promote your thoughts and share your interests with others. Now that I've finally made this, I can get round to sharing some of Lewis's Alt:Mag posts up too as he always showed me round his that he promoted my work on Alt:Mag, his own work too and even my AsperJosh work too! What a good mate. Now I can team up and help him out too like he does for me.

I have two huge posts coming up asap as they're both late due to a changeover I had at home with my parents going on holiday together and me coping with the solitary (well not completely as I had my sister and her friends come over to keep us company and to cook for me as I'm that useless) plus their's the story of seeing Lee Evans last saturday. Stay tuned!